


Finding Home

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Camping, Claudia Stilinski Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25563208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Stiles and Derek have a moment while setting up camp.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 14
Kudos: 155





	Finding Home

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 2 of A Very Sterek Summer Fest: Camp/Camping

"Whose idea was this again?" Stiles asks, glancing over at the tent, still sitting half put up. He's surprised there aren't claw marks all over it considering Derek had gotten frustrated trying to put it up and had wolfed out. 

To be fair, Stiles had tried to help. Derek had waved him off though and insisted he could handle it on his own. 

That was a lie. 

"Cora's,” Derek grumbles. "She thinks we needed to relax and be closer to nature."

"I don't know if you've noticed, big guy, but you're not exactly relaxed."

Derek glares at him, "Shut up."

Stiles raises his hands, even as a smile teases at his lips. "I'm just saying. Maybe I could take a look…"

"I know how to put up a tent, Stiles."

"I'm not doubting your abilities, dude. But it never hurts to have a second pair of eyes, and hands."

Derek continues to glare, and for a moment Stiles thinks his stubbornness is going to win out and they're going to wind up just sleeping out in the open, a free buffet for all the mosquitoes to feast on. 

But then Derek sighs and runs a hand down his face. "Fine. See what you can do."

Stiles walks over to where the directions are sitting on the ground. He can see what the problem is immediately. They're in Japanese. Still, a tent is a tent. It can't be that hard. 

Stiles looks from the pictures to the tent and nods to himself before setting to work. He can feel Derek's eyes on him as he finishes up the tent but doesn't look his way. The last thing new needs is to be distracted by his handsome face. 

Not that he's noticed how handsome Derek is. No matter what anyone else might think. 

"We're all done," Stiles says. He moves to step back and jumps when backs right into something solid. Derek's hands move to his hips, keeping him steady, and also preventing him from going too far. 

"How did you get it done so quickly?" Derek asks, voice low next to his ear. 

Stiles' heart is pounding in his chest, and he knows there's no way Derek doesn't notice. Still, Stiles can always blame it on him being startled. 

"I used to go camping all the time when I was younger," Stiles shrugs. "I'd always help my mom put it up while Dad got everything else set up. It was our tradition.”

Derek squeezes his hip, “You must miss her.”

“I do,” Stiles says. He stares off across the lake in front of them, and for a moment he’s somewhere else. Years earlier, setting up camp with his mom, laughing as they fight with the tent while his dad encourages them from nearby, before finally succeeding in getting the tent up. He clears his throat and tilts his head back so he can see Derek better. “I think she’d like that I’m camping again though. It was one of our favorite things to do together. Thanks for bringing me along.”

“Of course,” Derek says. “There’s no one else I’d rather be here with.”

Stiles is struck by the sincerity in his voice. He might not have the werewolf ability to know when someone is lying, but Derek has his own tells. A twitch of his jaw, or the way he averts his eyes. He’s not doing either of those things now. Which means he really does want Stiles here.

“I didn’t know you appreciated my company that much,” Stiles says, trying to lighten the mood.

Except Derek doesn’t take the bait. His face remains serious, his gaze unwavering. “Have you really not realized by now how important you are to me?”

“Well yeah, I mean we’re friends so…”

Derek shifts slightly, until he’s standing in front of Stiles. One hand stays on his hip while the other comes up to his jaw. His fingers brush across Stiles’ skin and Stiles is torn between closing his eyes at the contact and keeping his gaze focused on Derek. In the end, his need to see Derek wins out. He’s afraid if he closes his eyes this will all wind up being a dream. 

“You’re not just a friend, Stiles,” Derek says.

And yeah, Stiles must be dreaming. Maybe he hit his head with a tent pole and knocked himself out and this is just his mind messing with him. Because as much as he might deny it, he’s very much into Derek Hale. And his brain apparently has a twisted sense of humor.

“Am I concussed?” he asks.

Derek’s brow furrows. “What? No. Why would you be concussed?”

“Because there is no way in hell you’re confessing your love for me right now,” Stiles says.

“I didn’t say love,” Derek says. 

“Might as well have,” Stiles says. “So I have to be concussed. Or unconscious and you’re a hallucination or something because…”

“Stiles, you’re concussed or hallucinating,” Derek says, an amused tilt to his lips.

“That’s what hallucination Derek would say.”

Derek sighs, “Of course I would try and admit my feelings to you and you’d be difficult about it.”

“I’m not being difficult.”

“You just don’t believe me.”

“Well I…” Stiles trails off, starting to wonder if maybe this _is_ happening. “I want to.”

Derek purses his lips, watching him. Stiles yelps when Derek grabs his hair and draws in closer. “What are you doing?”

“Proving it to you,” Derek says and then kisses him.

Stiles sinks into the kiss with a sigh, his hands fluttering at Derek’s side before settling on his back. “Okay,” Stiles pants against his lips when they pull back for air. “I believe you.”

“That easily?”

“I’m sure my imagination has created some great kisses, but none of them have felt like _that_ ,” Stiles says.

“What exactly does _that_ feel like?” Derek asks him.

Stiles thinks about it, trying to find the perfect way to describe what kissing Derek had felt like. There’s only one thing that will suffice. “Like finding home.”

Later that night, when they’re curled up under their sleeping bags in their tent, Stiles thinks about just how true that is. They’ve been through a lot, both together and on their own, and yet have always found their way back together. In all the chaos of their lives Derek has been the person Stiles knows he can count on. A place of peace and safety. His home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/comments make my day 💜  
> You can find me [here on tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


End file.
